Turret type feeder for spray machine

ABSTRACT

In a turret type machine adapted to apply a coating to one surface of a can lid, the can lids are stacked in a load chute and sequentially advanced downwardly by a feed means that drops the lowermost can lid to a loading position. A turret subassembly rotates a plurality of radially extending work holder units in timed relation to the feed means such that a work holder unit passes through the loading position simultaneously with the arrival of the lid. Each work holder unit has a work piece holder at its outer end which catches the falling can lid and a suction means to hold the can lids in place as the work holder unit moves into a spraying area. After a conventional spraying device applies a coating to the can lid, the suction means releases its hold on the treated can lid and the can lid drops to an output chute.

Umted States Patent 1 1 [-111 3,776,420

Melind Dec. 4, 1973 TURRET TYPE FEEDER FOR SPRAY Primary ExaminerEvon C.Blunk MACHINE Assistant Examiner-11. S. Lane 75 Inventor: Julius J.Melind, Des Plaines, n1. [73] Assignee: H. L. Fisher Mfg. Co. IncChicago,

Ill. [57] ABSTRACT Filed! P 1972 In a turret type machine adapted toapply a coating to 21 A L No.: 240 601 one surface of a can lid, the canlids are stacked in a l 1 pp load chute and sequentially advanceddownwardly by a feed means that drops the lowermost can lid to a U.S. Cl221/297, 198/103, loading pogitiorr A turret subassembly rotates a plu-118/319 rality of radially extending work holder units in timed [51]Int. Cl B23q 7/04 relation to the feed means uch that a work holder [58]Field 01 Search 198/ 105, 103; nit passes through the loading positionsimulta- 221/ 318 neously with the arrival of the lid. Each work holderunit has a work piece holder at its outer end which References Citedcatches the falling can lid and a suction means to hold UNITED STATESPATENTS the can lids in place as the work holder unit moves 3 591,047 71971 Buhle .Q 221 211 a Spraying area- After a cmvemimal SP'aYmg11661483 4/1928 Leof 221/297 x vice pp a coating to the can lid, theSuction means 2,855,113 10/1958 Roske 221/211 X releases its hold on thetreated can lid and the can lid 2,600,138 6/1952 Tesch, Jr. 221/211 Xdrops to an output chute. 1,602,686 10/1926 Leet 221/297 X 13 Claims, 11Drawing Figures PATENTEU E 975 SHEET 10F 6 PATENTEUUEC M175 SHEET 2 OF 6PATENTEU 41973 3.776.420

sum 5 0r 0 ZZZ 1 TURRET TYPE FEEDER FOR SPRAY MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION This invention relates to a turret-type machine for handlingdisc-shaped workpieces or the like. The invention in particular relatesto a turret-type machine for carrying the disc-shaped workpieces to beoperated upon to a work station and thereafter delivering the treatedworkpiecesinto an output chute. In the design of spraying machines forapplying a coating to the inside surface of such disc-shaped objects ascan lids, one of the major design problems is providing a means forpicking up the disc-shaped workpieces and holding them during thespraying operation.

There are two major design criterias in designing any 'type of turretmachine one being the simplicity of the turret machine construction, andthe other being the speed at which it operates. This invention satisfiesboth of the above mentioned design criterias for it embodies a verynovel but simple construction which is easy to maintain and quitereliable in performance. However, its greatest advantage over the priorart is its speed capabilities as compared with prior art turrettypemachines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is a turret-type apparatus usedin a machine for applying a coating to one surface of a discshaped workpiece and comprises speed means for sequentially advancing a pluralityof the workpieces to cause the lowermost workpiece to drop to a loadingposition, where it is picked up by one of a plurality of work holdermeans which are carried by a turret means. The turret means is driven ina timed relation with respect to the feed means so that one of the workholder means passes through the loading position simultaneously with thearrival of the lowermost workpiece. Suction means are utilized forholding the workpieces onto the work holder means throughout the travelof the work holder means from the loading position to thesprayingposition and for releasing the workpiece after the coatingoperation is complete.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a better understanding of this inventionreference may be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a turret-type machine embodyingthe principles of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial frontview of FIG. 1 showing various operatingcomponents mounted inside the machine housing; 7

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 andlooking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the inside of the turrettype machineembodying the principles of my invention; I

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I 5-5 of FIG. 3and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the circular mounting plate which carries thecomponents of the turret subassembly;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 7 7 of FIG. 4 andlooking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line 8-8 of FIG. 7 andlooking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 9-9 of FIG. 8 andlooking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIGS. 10 and 11 are illustrations of can lid coatings treated inaccordance with the principles of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, there is showna front perspective view of a can lid coating machine embodying theprinciples of this invention and generally designated by the referencenumeral 20. The machine 20 is designed to automatically feed a stack ofuncoated can lids from feed chute 22 to a can holder assembly 24 (FIG.2) and the can holder assembly 24 moves the can lids into a sprayingposition and after the spraying operation is complete the can lids aredropped into output chute 26. The can lids exit from the output chute 26and are picked up by a conveyor belt 28 (partially shown) where they maybe delivered through curing ovens and- /or given further treatment.

The various operating components for the spray machine 20 are containedinside housing 28. At the front of the machine there is located acontrol panel 30 which includes start and stop switches.

The holder assembly 24, as depicted in FIGS. 5 through 7, comprises aturret subassembly 32 having four identical workpiece holder units 34mounted in an equally spaced radial arrangement (see FIG. 5) on acircular mounting plate 36 having a centrally located hub portion 38(FIG. 7). A mounting sleeve 40 (FIG. 7) is provided to interconnect theturret subassembly 32 to a drive shaft 42. Keyed means 44 (FIGS. 6 and7) fixedly secures the sleeve 40 to the drive shaft 42, and a pluralityof mounting bolts 46 (three shown in FIG. 6) fasten the mounting plate36 to the sleeve 40.

The workpiece holder units 34 are mounted on circular plate 36 by meansof a saddle clamp 48, the lower half portion 50 of which is secured tothe mounting plate 36 by means of bolts 52 (FIG. 6). The upper halfportion 54 (FIG. 5) of saddle clamp 48 when mated with the lower set ofportion 50 forms a locking collar about the circular body portion 56 ofeach workpiece holder unit 34. A hollow rotatable shaft 58 extendsaxially through the central body portion and is rotatably mounted by twobearings one bearing 60 at its inner end and a second bearing (notshown) formed internally of the circular body portion 56. A workpieceholder 62 is fastened on the outer end of the rotatable shaft 58. Topermit the interchange of different sized workpiece holder 62 toaccommodate different diameter can lids, the four workpiece. holders 62are removably mounted on the outer end of the four rotatable shafts 58by virtue of the threaded engagement between their threaded central bore64 and a threaded piece 66 secured on the outer end of shaft 58. Athreaded plug 68 is used to lock the workpiece holder 62 in place on therotatable shaft 58.

The workpiece holder 62 has a circular body portion 70 that tapersinwardly at outer end 72. A circular recess 73 is formed in the taperedend 72 to present an annular ridge 74 that defines a seat for the canlid C (FIG. 7). As depicted in FIG.7, the inwardly tapered outer surface76 of annular rib 74 conforms to the shape of the flange portion of canlid C. The inner end of the workpiece holder 62 has an annular centralrecess 78, and when mounted on rotatable shaft 58 a spacer member 80 isdisposed between this recess 78 and central body portion 56.

The function of the workpiece holder units 34 is to pick up a can lid Cin the loading position of FIG. 7 and hold the can lid as the turretsubassembly 32 carries the holder unit 34 and associated can lid to thespraying position where a commercially available spraying device appliesa coating to the inner surface of the can lid.

Referring to FIG. 2, the workpiece holder units 34 pick up the can lidsat the vertical loading position and carry them through an approximate90 degree rotation in the clockwise direction to the spraying positionwhere a commercial spraying device 84 applies a coating to the insidesurface of the can lids. After the spraying operation is complete thecan lids are dropped into the output chute 26 (FIG. 1). Between thesetwo positions the can lids C are held on the workpiece holder 62 byvirtue of a novel suction means 86, which will now be described.

The function of suction means 86 is to apply a vacuum to the can lid Cseated on the tapered end 72 of the workpiece holder 62 through thehollow rotatable shaft 58 from a vacuum chamber 88 (FIGS. 8 and 9).Vacuum chamber 88 is formed by a stationary vacuum housing 90 and arevolvable wear plate 92 carried by the turret subassembly 32. Wearplate 92 has a circular configuration and is threadedly fastened to thecircular mounting plate 36 by a mounting bolt 94. An elongatedcylindrical spacer sleeve 96 separates the wear plate 92 from thecircular mounting plate 36 and maintains the plates in a parallelrelationship. Four stepped circular openings 98 provided in the weardisc plate 92 define a fluid passageway through the disc plate betweenthe vacuum chamber 88 and the four hollow shafts 58. The four openings98 are disposed in a concentric plane about the center of disc plate 92.A hollow bell-shaped housing 100 is provided at the inner end of each ofthe four holder units 34, and a valve member 102 couples the bell-shapedhousing 100 and one of the four open ings 98 to complete the fluid pathbetween the workpiece receiving recess 73 and the vacuum chamber 88.Bell-shaped housing 100 has a generally bell-shaped configuration exceptthat the side 101 facing the wear disc plate 92 is flattened.Bell-shaped housing 100 is secured to the circular body portion 56 bymeans of three spaced mounting bolts 104 (FIG. 7), which are insertedthrough the base portion 105 of the housing 100.

Vacuum housing 90 is supported from a projecting frame member 106 asdepicted in FIG. 3 extending forwardly from the top of the machinehousing 28. Frame member 106 has a horizontal leg 108 and a vertical leg110. The vacuum housing 90 is assembled at the lower end of the verticalleg 110. Vacuum housing 90 in cludes a base block member 112 fastened tothe vertical frame leg 110 by means ofa plurality of mounting bolts 115.A cylindrical housing guard 114 is secured to the base block 112 bymeans of screws 116. An arcuate member 118 is integrally formedforwardly of the base block 112, and a wear shoe member 120 isfloatingly supported on this arcuate member (FIGS. 7-9). This wear shoe120 is made of a low friction material such as nylon, and has an arcuateclosed loop configuration. Wear shoe 120 is urged against wear plate 92by means of a plurality of springs 122, which are contained withinopenings 124 formed in the forward face 126 of the base frame member inspaced relation about both sides of arcuate member 118. Wear shoefrictionally engages the disc plate 92 and together with the arcuatemember 118 defines the vacuum chamber 88. The vacuum chamber 88 isconnected to a vacuum source through an opening 128 (FIG. 8) extendingthrough the base block 112 and arcuate member 118. The rearward end ofopening 128 is in communication with a hose fitting 130 extendingthrough an opening 132 in the vertical frame leg 110.

As clearly depicted in FIGS. 5 and 8, the length of the arcuate vacuumchamber 88 is somewhat longer than the arcuate distance between adjacentvacuum openings 98. At the end of the vacuum chamber 88 adjacent to thespraying station, a spring loaded ball valve 134 (FIG. 9) is provided infrictional engagement against the wear plate 92 and serves to shut offthe opening 98 of each workpiece holder unit 34 upon reaching thislocation. The purpose of the ball valve 134 is to instantaneouslyterminate suction force applied to the can lid whose inside surface hasjust been sprayed at the coating station so that the can lid will dropby gravity into the output chute 26 (FIG. 1). It will be appreciated byreferring to FIG. 8 that the loading end of the vacuum chamber 88extends slightly beyond the vertical loading position in order that avacuum is present upon each workpiece holder reaching the uprightloading position.

During the spraying operation, a spinner means is provided forconstantly turning the work piece holder 62 and associated can lid C toensure that a uniform coating will be applied across the inner surfaceof the can lid. Spinner means 140 comprises a spinner wheel 142 (FIGS.3-4) which is disposed in the path of the workpiece holder 62 so thatits outer peripheral surface is frictionally engaged by the body portion70 of the workpiece holder 62 upon the workpiece holder 62 entering thespraying area. The spinner wheel 142 rotates the workpiece holder 62 andassociated can lid on its rotatable shaft 58 throughout the sprayingoperation. The spinner wheel is supported at the forward end of asupporting bracket 144 which is mounted on an upright frame member 146inside the machine housing 28 (FIG. 3). The spinner wheel is fixed to arotatable shaft 148 which is rotatably mounted through a pair of spacedbearings means 150 on the forward end of the spinner bracket 144. Adriven pulley 152 is fixed to the other end of shaft 148. The drivenpulley 152 is coupled to a drive pulley 154 by means of an endless belt156, and drive pulley 154 is keyed on the drive shaft 157 of electricmotor 158. Motor 158 also serves as the power source for a vacuum pump160 which provides the vacuum in chamber 88 through hose 130 (FIG. 9).Vacuum pump 160 is coupled to electric motor 158 by virtue of the pulleyarrangement 162 coupling the output shaft 157 of the electric motor andthe input shaft 159 of the vacuum pump (FIGS. 3 and 4).

The spraying device which is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 2 asblock 164 having a spray nozzle 166 forms no part of this invention andis depicted only to fully describe the preferred embodiment of thisinvention. The spray device 164 could beany of a number of commerciallyavailable units such as the Nordson Model No. 25 Airless Spray Pump.

Referring to FIGS. 4, 5 and 7, there is illustrated a feed means forsequentially advancing a stack of workpieces (illustrated as can lids C)to the load position where one of the rotating workpiece holder units 34picks up the can lid as depicted in FIG. 7. The feed means 170 comprisesa feed chute 22 in which a plurality of can lids C are stacked in avertical arrangement and a pair of feed rollers 172 are driven in timedrelation with respect to the turret subassembly 32.

Feed chute 22 is made up of four upstanding spaced posts 174 which aremounted around the peripheral upper end of a cylindrical housing 176 inequal spaced relationship. As shown in FIG. 7, the can lids C aredisposed vertically along the cylindrical bore 178- of the cylindricalhousing 176. The pair of feed rollers 172 have a generally cylindricalshape and are provided with two diametrically opposite notches 180formed in their peripheral surfaces. The feed rollers 172 are driven inunison so that the feed notches match up to engage the diagonallyopposite edges of the lowermost can lid and advance this lid downwardlywhere it is released and drops a very short distance before being caughtby the workpiece holder 62.

Feed rollers 172 are fixed to a pair of parallel shafts 184, each ofwhich is rotatably mounted by a pair of bearing means 186 and 188 (FIG.5), and a pair of intermeshing toothed gears 190 and 192 (FIG. 4) aresecured to the rearward ends of the pair of parallel shafts 184. Fixedlysecured behind tooth gear 192 is a pulley 194 which is driven by a drivepulley 196 through an inner-connecting endless belt 198.

To ensure that the turret subassembly 32 and the feed assembly aredriven in a predetermined time relation, both assemblies are driven froma common power source. This power source is provided by a conventionalspeed reducer unit 204 (FIGS. 3-4) which is driven through pulley 206 byan electric motor (not shown) that is located in the bottom portion ofhousing 28. The output shaft of the speed reducer (in the order of a 5to 1 gear ratio) drives pulley 207 (FIG. 4) which is keyed on idlershaft 208 and the driven pulley 207 in turn drives the pair of toothgears 191, 192 through the pulley arrangement formed by pulleys 194, 196and endless belt 198. This same gear reducer unit 204 drives the outputshaft 42 (FIG. 7) which turns the turret subassembly 32.

In the operation of the turret-type spray machine 20, the can lids to becoated are fed into the load chute 22 as illustrated in FIG. 7, and-themain'drive motor (not shown) for speed reducer 204 and electric motor158 are both energized. The energization of electric motor 158 (FIG. 3)operates the vacuum pump 160 to create a vacuum in chamber 88, andconstantly drives the spinner wheel 142. The energization of the maindrive motor starts the rotation of the turret subassembly 32 and thedrive for feed means 170. Also, the spray system timing circuit isenergized so that the spray device 164 will be ready to automaticallyapply a coating to the can lids as they pass directly in front of thespray nozzle 166. The spray system timing circuit has not been describedsince it forms no part of this invention and is not necessary for-acomplete understanding of l the invention. One commercially availablespray timing system that could be used with the above mentioned Nordsonspraying device is a Nordson C-2 solid state timer systemsln use withthe preferredembodiment, the timing system for the spraying device 164would be designed to energize the spraying device 164 as each of theworkpiece holder unigs 34 pass directly across its path.

It should be understood that my invention is not limited to can lidspraying machines butis applicable to various other machines for discworkpieces to move the same to a work station where an operation isperformed thereon, particularly where it is desired to operate on atleast four workpieces simultaneously. Thus, while I have illustrated myinvention in a preferred form, I do not intend to be limited to thatform, except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, sincemodifications coming within the scope of my invention will be readilysuggested to others with my disclosure before them.

I claim:

1. In a machine adapted to apply a coating to one surface of adisc-shaped workpiece, a turret apparatus for feeding and holding theworkpieces comprising feed means for sequentially advancing a pluralityof workpieces to a loading position, a plurality of work holder meanseach including a workpiece holder having its own axis of rotation,turret means for rotating said work holder means as a group in a timedrelation with said feed means such that one of said workpiece holderspasses said loading position simultaneously with the arrival of eachworkpiece, suction means for latching the workpieces onto said workpieceholder at said loading position and for releasing said workpiece afterthe coating operation terminates, and means for continuously turningsaid workpiece holder on its axis of rotation during said coatingoperation.

2. The combination of claim 1, wherein said feed means comprises a feedchute passageway extending upwardly and conforming to the shape of thedisc workpieces and a pair of feed rollers disposed below the lower endof said passageway at diagonally opposite positions, and drive means forturning said feed rollers in unison in opposite directions, said feedrollers spaced apart at a distance less than the diameter of said discworkpieces and each having at least one notch formed in their peripheralsurface which are matched together to simultaneously receive the outerperipheral portion of the lowermost workpieces and advance saidlowermost workpiece to said loading position.

3. The combination of claim 1, wherein said turret means comprises acircular mounting plate, a drive shaft, coupler means for fixedlysecuring said mounting plate on said drive shaft and power means forturning said drive shaft and said mounting plate in timed relation withsaid feed means such that one of said workpiece holders passes saidloading position simultaneously with the arrival of each workpiece.

4. The combination of claim-3, wherein said plurality of work holdermeans comprises a plurality of work holder units supported radially inequal spaced relation on said mounting plate, each of said work holderunits including a central body portion, a hollow rotatable shaftextending radially through said central body portion, and said workpieceholder secured on the outer end of said shaft, the outer end of saidworkpiece holder conforming to the shape of the disc-shaped workpieceand wherein said suction'means applies a vacuum force to the innersurface of said disc-shaped workpiece.

5. The combination of claim 4, further comprising threaded means forfastening said workpiece holder on said outer end of said hollow shaftto permit the interchange of different sized workpiece holders.

6. The combination of claim 4, wherein said suction means comprises awear disc plate supported axially on said mounting plate and having aplurality of openings in equal spaced relation on a concentric plane,coupler means interconnecting pairs of said hollow shafts and saidopenings to define a fluid passageway therebetween, an arcuate memberdisposed adjacent the forward face of said wear plate and extending inthe path of said concentric plane, an arcuate wear shoe conforming tothe cross-sectional shape of said arcuate member, spring means forurging said wear shoe against said forward face of said wear plate todefine a vacuum chamber, and vacuum source means for providing aconstant vacuum in said vacuum chamber.

7. In a machine adapted to apply a coating to one surface of adisc-shaped workpiece, a turret apparatus for feeding and holding theworkpieces comprising feed means for sequentially advancing a pluralityof workpieces to a loading position, a plurality of work holder unitshaving a central body portion, a hollow shaft rotatably supported bysaid central body portion, and a workpiece holder secured on the outerend of said hollow shaft, said workpiece holder comprising a cylindricalshaped body portion and an inwardly tapered outer end, a central recessprovided in said outer end to present an annular ridge for seating thedisc-shaped workpieces, and threaded means for removably securing saidworkpiece holder on said outer end of said shaft, said threaded meansincluding an axial bore in communication with said hollow shaft, turretmeans for rotating said work holder units disposed in a radial equalspaced arrangement in a timed relation with said feed means such thatone of said workpiece holders passes said loading positionsimultaneously with the arrival'of each workpiece, suction means forlatching the workpieces onto said workpiece holder at said loadingposition and for releasing said workpiece after the coating operationterminates, said suction means comprising a wear disc plate supportedaxially by said turret means and having a plurality of openings in equalspaced relation on a concentric plane, coupler means interconnectingpairs of said hollow shaft and said openings to define a fluidpassageway therebetween, an arcuate member disposed adjacent the forwardface of said wear plate and extending in the path of said concentricplane, an arcuate wear shoe conforming to the crosssectional shape ofsaid arcuate member, spring means for urging said wear shoe against saidforward face of said wear plate to define a vacuum chamber, vacuumsource means for providing a constant vacuum in said vacuum chamber, anda spring loaded ball valve located at one end of said vacuum chamber andadapted to close off one of said openings in said wear plate toterminate the vacuum force applied to the workpiece after the coatingoperation is complete.

8. In a machine adapted to apply a coating to one surface of adisc-shaped workpiece, a turret apparatus for feeding and holding theworkpiece comprising feed means for sequentially advancing a pluralityof workpieces to a loading position, a plurality of work holder unitshaving a central body portion, a hollow shaft rotatably supported bysaid central body portion, and a workpiece holder secured on the outerend of said hollow shaft, turret means for rotating said work holderunits disposed in a radial equal spaced arrangement in a timed relationwith said feed means such that one of said workpiece holders passes saidloading position simultaneously with the arrival of each workpiece,suction means for latching the workpieces onto said workpiece holder atsaid loading position and for releasing said workpiece after the coatingoperation terminates, and spinner means for continuously turning saidworkpiece holder on the axis of said shaft during said coatingoperation.

9. The combination of claim 9, wherein said feed means comprises a feedchute passageway extending upwardly and conforming to the shape of thedisc workpieces and a pair of feed rollers disposed below the lower endof said passageway at diagonally opposite positions, and drive means forturning said feed rollers in unison in opposite directions, said feedrollers spaced apart at a distance less than the diameter of said discworkpieces and each having at least one notch formed in their peripheralsurface which are matched together to simultaneously receive the outerperipheral portion of the lowermost workpieces and advance saidlowermost workpiece to said loading position.

10. The combination of claim 8, wherein said spinner means comprises aspinner wheel disposed in the path of said workpiece holders andengaging said cylindrical body portion during the period of said coatingoperation, and spinner drive means for constantly turning said spinnerwheel.

11. The combination of claim 8, wherein said turret means comprises acircular mounting plate, a drive shaft, coupler means for fixedlysecuring said mounting plate on said drive shaft and power means forturning said drive shaft and said mounting plate in timed relation withsaid feed means such that one of said work holder units passes saidloading position simultaneously with the arrival of each workpiece.

12. The combination of claim 8, wherein said workpiece holder comprisesa cylindrical shaped body portion and an inwardly tapered outer end, acentral recess provided in said outer end to present an annular ridgefor seating the disc-shaped workpieces, and threaded means for removablysecuring said workpiece holder on said outer end of said shaft, saidthreaded means including an axial bore in communication with said hollowshaft.

13. The combination of claim 12, wherein said suction means comprises awear disc plate supported axially by said turret means and having aplurality of openings in equal spaced relation on a concentric plane,coupler means interconnecting pairs of said hollow shaft and saidopenings to define a fluid passageway therebetween, an arcuate memberdisposed adjacent the forward face of said wear plate and extending inthe path of said concentric plane, an arcuate wear shoe conforming tothe cross-sectional shape of said arcuate member, spring means forurging said wear shoe against said forward face of said wear plate todefine a vacuum chamber, and vacuum source means for providing aconstant vacuum in said vacuum chamber.

zg ggg UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF COR i ECTION PatentNo. 3,776,420 I Dated December 4, 1973 InVentor(s) Julius J. Melind Itis certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 8, line 11, change "claim 9" to --claim 8.--.

Signed and sealed this loth da'y or April 197M.

(SEAL) Attest: I

EDWARD FLFLETGHERJR. C. MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner ofPatents

1. In a machine adapted to apply a coating to one surface of adisc-shaped workpiece, a turret apparatus for feeding and holding theworkpieces comprising feed means for sequentially advancing a pluralityof workpieces to a loading position, a plurality of work holder meanseach including a workpiece holder having its own axis of rotation,turret means for rotating said work holder means as a group in a timedrelation with said feed means such that one of said workpiece holderspasses said loading position simultaneously with the arrival of eachworkpiece, suction means for latching the workpieces onto said workpieceholder at said loading position and for releasing said workpiece afterthe coating operation terminates, and means for continuously turningsaid workpiece holder on its axis of rotation during said coatingoperation.
 2. The combination of claim 1, wherein said feed meanscomprises a feed chute passageway extending upwardly and conforming tothe shape of the disc workpieces and a paIr of feed rollers disposedbelow the lower end of said passageway at diagonally opposite positions,and drive means for turning said feed rollers in unison in oppositedirections, said feed rollers spaced apart at a distance less than thediameter of said disc workpieces and each having at least one notchformed in their peripheral surface which are matched together tosimultaneously receive the outer peripheral portion of the lowermostworkpieces and advance said lowermost workpiece to said loadingposition.
 3. The combination of claim 1, wherein said turret meanscomprises a circular mounting plate, a drive shaft, coupler means forfixedly securing said mounting plate on said drive shaft and power meansfor turning said drive shaft and said mounting plate in timed relationwith said feed means such that one of said workpiece holders passes saidloading position simultaneously with the arrival of each workpiece. 4.The combination of claim 3, wherein said plurality of work holder meanscomprises a plurality of work holder units supported radially in equalspaced relation on said mounting plate, each of said work holder unitsincluding a central body portion, a hollow rotatable shaft extendingradially through said central body portion, and said workpiece holdersecured on the outer end of said shaft, the outer end of said workpieceholder conforming to the shape of the disc-shaped workpiece and whereinsaid suction means applies a vacuum force to the inner surface of saiddisc-shaped workpiece.
 5. The combination of claim 4, further comprisingthreaded means for fastening said workpiece holder on said outer end ofsaid hollow shaft to permit the interchange of different sized workpieceholders.
 6. The combination of claim 4, wherein said suction meanscomprises a wear disc plate supported axially on said mounting plate andhaving a plurality of openings in equal spaced relation on a concentricplane, coupler means interconnecting pairs of said hollow shafts andsaid openings to define a fluid passageway therebetween, an arcuatemember disposed adjacent the forward face of said wear plate andextending in the path of said concentric plane, an arcuate wear shoeconforming to the cross-sectional shape of said arcuate member, springmeans for urging said wear shoe against said forward face of said wearplate to define a vacuum chamber, and vacuum source means for providinga constant vacuum in said vacuum chamber.
 7. In a machine adapted toapply a coating to one surface of a disc-shaped workpiece, a turretapparatus for feeding and holding the workpieces comprising feed meansfor sequentially advancing a plurality of workpieces to a loadingposition, a plurality of work holder units having a central bodyportion, a hollow shaft rotatably supported by said central bodyportion, and a workpiece holder secured on the outer end of said hollowshaft, said workpiece holder comprising a cylindrical shaped bodyportion and an inwardly tapered outer end, a central recess provided insaid outer end to present an annular ridge for seating the disc-shapedworkpieces, and threaded means for removably securing said workpieceholder on said outer end of said shaft, said threaded means including anaxial bore in communication with said hollow shaft, turret means forrotating said work holder units disposed in a radial equal spacedarrangement in a timed relation with said feed means such that one ofsaid workpiece holders passes said loading position simultaneously withthe arrival of each workpiece, suction means for latching the workpiecesonto said workpiece holder at said loading position and for releasingsaid workpiece after the coating operation terminates, said suctionmeans comprising a wear disc plate supported axially by said turretmeans and having a plurality of openings in equal spaced relation on aconcentric plane, coupler means interconnecting pairs of said hollowshaft and said openings to define a fluid passageway therebetween, anarcuate member disposed adjacent tHe forward face of said wear plate andextending in the path of said concentric plane, an arcuate wear shoeconforming to the cross-sectional shape of said arcuate member, springmeans for urging said wear shoe against said forward face of said wearplate to define a vacuum chamber, vacuum source means for providing aconstant vacuum in said vacuum chamber, and a spring loaded ball valvelocated at one end of said vacuum chamber and adapted to close off oneof said openings in said wear plate to terminate the vacuum forceapplied to the workpiece after the coating operation is complete.
 8. Ina machine adapted to apply a coating to one surface of a disc-shapedworkpiece, a turret apparatus for feeding and holding the workpiececomprising feed means for sequentially advancing a plurality ofworkpieces to a loading position, a plurality of work holder unitshaving a central body portion, a hollow shaft rotatably supported bysaid central body portion, and a workpiece holder secured on the outerend of said hollow shaft, turret means for rotating said work holderunits disposed in a radial equal spaced arrangement in a timed relationwith said feed means such that one of said workpiece holders passes saidloading position simultaneously with the arrival of each workpiece,suction means for latching the workpieces onto said workpiece holder atsaid loading position and for releasing said workpiece after the coatingoperation terminates, and spinner means for continuously turning saidworkpiece holder on the axis of said shaft during said coatingoperation.
 9. The combination of claim 9, wherein said feed meanscomprises a feed chute passageway extending upwardly and conforming tothe shape of the disc workpieces and a pair of feed rollers disposedbelow the lower end of said passageway at diagonally opposite positions,and drive means for turning said feed rollers in unison in oppositedirections, said feed rollers spaced apart at a distance less than thediameter of said disc workpieces and each having at least one notchformed in their peripheral surface which are matched together tosimultaneously receive the outer peripheral portion of the lowermostworkpieces and advance said lowermost workpiece to said loadingposition.
 10. The combination of claim 8, wherein said spinner meanscomprises a spinner wheel disposed in the path of said workpiece holdersand engaging said cylindrical body portion during the period of saidcoating operation, and spinner drive means for constantly turning saidspinner wheel.
 11. The combination of claim 8, wherein said turret meanscomprises a circular mounting plate, a drive shaft, coupler means forfixedly securing said mounting plate on said drive shaft and power meansfor turning said drive shaft and said mounting plate in timed relationwith said feed means such that one of said work holder units passes saidloading position simultaneously with the arrival of each workpiece. 12.The combination of claim 8, wherein said workpiece holder comprises acylindrical shaped body portion and an inwardly tapered outer end, acentral recess provided in said outer end to present an annular ridgefor seating the disc-shaped workpieces, and threaded means for removablysecuring said workpiece holder on said outer end of said shaft, saidthreaded means including an axial bore in communication with said hollowshaft.
 13. The combination of claim 12, wherein said suction meanscomprises a wear disc plate supported axially by said turret means andhaving a plurality of openings in equal spaced relation on a concentricplane, coupler means interconnecting pairs of said hollow shaft and saidopenings to define a fluid passageway therebetween, an arcuate memberdisposed adjacent the forward face of said wear plate and extending inthe path of said concentric plane, an arcuate wear shoe conforming tothe cross-sectional shape of said arcuate member, spring means forurging said wear shoe against said forward face of said wear plate todefine a vacuum cHamber, and vacuum source means for providing aconstant vacuum in said vacuum chamber.